Crypto Czar becomes third tech exec to leave Goldman Sachs this week

[Mercury]

Rana Yared, Goldman Sach’s partner in technology investments who helped lead the bank’s strategic investments in financial technology, is reportedly leaving the company. She joins the two executives who left the bank earlier last week.

Yared joined the firm in 2006, she worked in New York and London and was a representative on various company boards. Yared was also known as one of the most senior women in tech on Wall Street, and she was named partner in 2018 at the age of 34.

During her time there, Yared helped Goldman begin exploring ways to dip into cryptocurrency operations through investments and internal products. She played a crucial role in a group that invested the firm’s own capital in emerging tech companies, and helped gain big returns for the trading unit through that operation. She oversaw about $2 billion in principal investments.

The responsibilities she handled also included a seat on the board of Tradeweb for five years before it went public. She also managed an investing group of about 30 people.

According to some sources, she plans to leave Wall Street to join a venture capital firm. However, the departure definitely serves a huge loss for the firm. Her departure also comes at a time when Goldman’s chief executive, David Solomon, pledged to do more to place women in its senior ranks.

Other senior executives depart the tech arm

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in New York City. The firm offers services in investment management, securities, asset management, prime brokerage, and securities underwriting.

The bank is also one of the largest investment banking enterprises in the world and a primary dealer in the United States Treasury security market.

However, the firm appears to be losing its senior ranks executive. In the last week, it’s lost three key partners who played critical roles in the firm’s technology arm.

Aside from Rana Yared, Ezra Nahum, the securities division’s head of engineering and operations recently left the company.

Adam Korn also resigned as the trading division’s head of engineering recently. Korn joined the company in 2002 as an associate in the equities derivatives research group, he also made Goldman’s highest rank of partner in 2010.

He also played an important role in persuading managers, division heads and even the board to plow funds into ambitious technology proposals, some costing more than $100 million.

Although, he won’t be leaving the company totally. The company explained that he will become an advisory director.

“He will work on financial technology investing in the merchant banking unit and remain engaged in shaping the Marquee strategy. We look forward to benefiting from his continued counsel,” the company statement said.

Korn said: “I am comfortable leaving because the team is on track and the vision is on track.”

The loss of these executives wasn’t the first. Since when investment banker David Solomon took over as chief executive officer in 2018, the firm has lost a procession of its lead innovators.

Technology chief Elisha Wiesel and Marty Chavez, the original tech evangelist inside the trading division, both departed late last year. Konstantin Shakhnovich, who helped hone the firm’s electronic-trading capabilities also left the company.

It remains to be seen what plans the company has to reinforce its technology arm.

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